AG/RES. 1270 (XXIV-O/94)

RESPECT FOR INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW

(Resolution adopted at the ninth plenary session, held on June 10, 1994)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

DEEPLY disturbed by the testing, production, sale, transfer, and use of certain conventional weapons which may be deemed to be excessively injurious or to have indiscriminate effects; and

CONSIDERING:

That violations of international humanitarian law are intolerable and warrant vigorous condemnation by the international community, as stated in the Declaration on the Protection of War Victims adopted at Geneva on September 1, 1993;

That the norms and fundamental principles of humanitarian law constitute universally recognized values that must be observed;

That the Organization's member states should publicize humanitarian law in their respective countries;

That international solidarity to protect the victims of conflicts must be strengthened, and that the peaceful initiatives

of the Organization of American States to prevent such conflicts or to ease tensions within the framework of the OAS Charter and international law must be supported; and

That all the of the Organization's member states are parties to the four 1949 Geneva Conventions;

RECALLING the final report of the International Conference on Victims of War, held in Geneva from August 30 through September 1, 1993,

RESOLVES:

  1. To urge all the member states that are parties to the 1949 Geneva Conventions but that have not yet signed its two 1977 Additional Protocols to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which may be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (October 10, 1980) and the Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (May 14, 1954), to consider doing so.

  2. To urge all states that are already parties to Additional Protocol 1, and those which have not yet signed, but intend to do so, to consider the possibility of issuing the declaration set forth in its Article 90.

  3. To urge all member states to do their utmost to guarantee the security of personnel engaged in humanitarian activities, so as to ensure protection and assistance for all victims without exception, in particular, by respecting the Red Cross emblem.

  4. To recommend that the OAS Secretary General continue to cooperate with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in publicizing international humanitarian law and the work of the ICRC among member states of the Organization.

ReturnGeneral Assembly 1994 Resolutions